Disclaimer:
I. Syraxes, do not own the Naruto Manga, Naruto Anime, Naruto Shippuden Anime, the Boruto Manga, Boruto Anime, novels, games and any other associated media. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, Studio Pierrot, and many other groups that have been involved in the creation of the games, movies, novels and such. I am but a humble fan, making this for the enjoyment of other fans. Please support the official release.
"Come in," Minato called, leaning back in his chair.
He eyed the mounds of paperwork with disdain. One might be fooled into thinking dying would get him out of paper work, but one would be wrong. It had taken over a week to go through everything and confirm that he really was Namikaze Minato. That Kushina was really his wife. And after that week of being forced to remain underground below Konoha, what does the village authority do when they can longer deny that the Yondaime Hokage and his wife have really returned?
They announce that fact to the village, and reinstate him as Hokage, forcing him to confront his worst enemy; paper work. At least with Iwa or Kumo, all of them could be killed. The paper work never ended.
Other than the paperwork, his life could hardly be called bad. When he had seen the village from a distance, he could almost believe he had been kidnapped for a day by the Nine-Tailed Fox attacker. The village forces rescued him, and he would soon be with his recently born son.
That was not the case, but he and Kushina were able to meet Naruto. His son was already thirteen years old, and a chunin to top it off. They had been dead for so long, and missed so much of his life, but just getting to meet him, Minato couldn't be more proud to be called his father. He had wanted to barricade his old house, and not let anyone in. Minato wanted to spend as much time with his son and wife as humanly possible.
But the duty of the Hokage called... And Jiraiya was making his own demand. He wanted to take Naruto under his wing and train him. Show him the world, and get him ready for life as a Jinchuriki. That had been the plan, worked out with Hiruzen. Minato and Kushina's return to life had seemed to complicate that.
Naruto had already accompanied Jiraiya to retrieve Tsunade, and only the information of his and Kushina's miraculous return to life got her back. Of course Naruto helped, but that's besides the point.
Minato could see the reasoning behind the choice. He knew it made sense; it was a good choice. But he had already missed out on so much of Naruto's life. He had died the day he was born. He only got to hold his son as a baby once. He didn't get to raise his son. To send him off on his first day of school. To give him the talk about girls. And now his master wanted to take even more years of his life away from him and Kushina?
The two had ranted and raved against such a choice, but the night before, they finally decided to give in. Both of them had responsibilities here in the village. They couldn't be with him as much as they wanted. And if Jiraiya could give him the knowledge and skills he needed, how could Minato refuse him?
Jiraiya walked through the door, closing it behind him. Minato flared his chair in an exact way, giving his Anbu the signal to leave. He felt their presence disappear.
Jiraiya whistled. "Not bad," he said.
"How is Naruto taking Sasuke's defection?" Minato asked.
Jiraiya gave him a solemn nod. "His teammates are a lot closer than most. They're almost like a family. You were right to tell him about the mission. If you hadn't..." He trailed off.
That was the other thorn in Minato's side. The village had been trying to get a spy among Orochimaru's ranks since before he had first become the Yondaime Hokage. He had been unable to get anyone into any kind of position with any kind of power. Then came Uchiha Sasuke, the last loyal member of the Uchiha clan.
Learning about the massacre and the downfall of the Uchiha had been shocking. During his time they were a power in the village. They seemed so entrenched. Like they'd be there forever. Until they weren't. Until they had tried to revolt.
It had come as an even bigger shock about the true role Itachi played in that horrid event. Fugaku was his old teammate from Minato's genin years. To think his first born son would be the instrument of his downfall.
Which left Sasuke in the role of the last loyal Uchiha. A role that Minato had changed. They needed someone within Orochimaru's organization. Someone that could get close to him. Uchiha Sasuke was the perfect candidate. He had been branded with Orochimaru's seal. He had the motivation to go; killing his brother and avenging his clan. Sasuke, it turned out, was a good actor. He could play the part well.
The only problem was Minato's son, and Sasuke's other teammate. Who he was dating. In the end Minato brought the whole of Team Seven in, laid down the facts, and Sasuke chose to take the S-ranked mission. Only Minato himself, Jiraiya, Sasuke, and Team Seven knew about the mission. No one else was allowed to know. Naruto and Sakura weren't happy with it, but in the end it was Sasuke's choice, and his teammates respected that.
Which was how Sakura got Tsunade to teach her. And now Naruto wanted Jiraiya to teach him.
"Alright," Minato finally said. He met his mentor's eyes. "Kushina and I talked about it last night. We've agreed to let Naruto go with you."
It wasn't an easy decision to make.
"Thank you," Jiraiya said. His voice lacked its usual enthusiasm.
"Take care of my son, Jiraiya."
"I swear it," he agreed. Jiraiya was one of the few people he trusted, who was powerful enough to keep him safe on his own whilst traveling the world.
"And about what we talked about?"
"About not leaving Ho no Kuni?" Jiraiya asked. Minato nodded. "Well, that has become the tradition among the Jinchuriki's. Not to leave the host nation. But you know my work will lead me out of the country, Minato."
He did know. "Just make sure to keep him safe. I'm trusting you with my child, Jiraiya."
He nodded again. "So, how are the elders? How is getting back into the swing of Hokage?" He asked.
"It was like I never left. From my perspective, the attack on the village was practically yesterday," Minato said. "The elders are a pain, but what else is new? You've seen the news of my return first hand here. How are the other nations taking it? The Daimyo?"
"The Daimyo is pleased. He's liked you for a very long time, Minato. I heard he threw a feast in your honor when the news reached him," Jiraiya said. A smirk crossed his face, and Minato returned it with a smile. "The other nations aren't taking it as well. Iwa still hates you for what happened in the war. They've turned you into a devil in their village, and nobody's happy about you being back. The effect of your return isn't as badly received in Kiri or Kumo, but I wouldn't say they're happy about it. Suna is the closest we'll get to happiness. The Kazekage wants me to remind you that he is up one in your shogi games. He expects another match when he visits the village to reaffirm the treaty."
And that was the best he could hope for. At least no new war has been started since his death. His revival hadn't sparked one either. Which meant this was the closest he had personally been to peace.
"As I recall," Minato said, smiling at his mentor, "You owe me a game of shogi as well. We promised to finish our competition after my son's birth."
Jiraiya laughed.
Author's Note:
Well, that's it folks. The final chapter of Team Seven Chronicles: Genin. Left you on a kind of cliff hanger, haven't I?
If you're interested in reading more of my work, until the sequel/possible spinoff of this story comes out, I have three other fics on this profile. I'm also currently working on a another, which I hope you'll consider checking out. And of course, I will be writing the next instalment of this series in the coming days!
All that said, thank you for reading Team Seven Chronicles: Genin! I have a lot planned for this verse so I hope you'll stay tuned! Once I release the next fic in this verse, I'll put up an Author's note here. It'll stay up for one day, telling you when the sequel is out, so stay tuned for that!
